The Mantis to breathe fire again in downtown Las Vegas
You can’t keep a good mantis down.
The Downtown Container Park’s metal mascot, The Mantis, breathes fire once more beginning April 1. The giant art piece and photo op is returning to action at sunset that night, with a big drum circle planned to wake it from its COVID-force hibernation, which began March 18, 2020.
The Mantis will then be activated Thursdays through Saturdays. Again, it will belch fire seemingly at random, and at high volume. The beast’s activity is known to cause uninitiated visitors to duck and shudder.
The Mantis is a relic of the late Tony Hsieh’s vision of downtown Las Vegas, especially Fremont East, where the creature stands on the corner of 7th and Fremont Streets. Hsieh bought the installation in 2013.
The Mantis lords over the neighborhood — 55 feet tall, 40 feet long and about 30 feet wide — a replica of an original female Praying Mantis built by Aerospace engineer Kirk Jellum.
The Park is open 11:30 am.-10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays. The facility is currently operating under pandemic guidelines, but The Mantis is not wearing a face cover, because, what’s the point?
A previous version of this column had incorrect measurements of The Mantis.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
